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Illinois Football Players Wear Headdresses at Charity Event

ICTMN Staff

6/26/13

At a charity fund-raiser on June 21, more than a dozen University of Illinois football players wore Indian headdresses after competing in "strong man" challenges to celebrate victories. The event, organized by student group Uplifting Athletes, benefitted the Acoustic Neuroma Association of America and was not sanctioned by the team or the Athletic Department, according to department officials.

"It's something we have to continue to educate everybody about," Brown told The News-Gazette of the school's history regarding Chief Illiniwek.

Brown also told the paper that "no one knew what they were going to do ahead of time. It was totally run and organized by the Uplifting Athletes club."

About $5,000 was raised to help the Acoustic Neuroma Association of America. A former UI football player and current student who works with the football program suffers from acoustic neuroma, which is a benign tumor of the balance or hearing nerves, according to the association.

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